


Engineer, Jedi, General, Pilot

by Itscalledthedistrict



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fatherhood, General Poe Dameron - Freeform, Jedi Finn (Star Wars), M/M, Poe Dameron-centric, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21995365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itscalledthedistrict/pseuds/Itscalledthedistrict
Summary: A lot of things had changed since the end of the war. Poe could usually count on sleeping for at least five hours a night. He wasn't living every day like it was the last. For the first time, in a long time, General Dameron felt he had a future.
Relationships: Jessika Pava/Rose Tico/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 19
Kudos: 114





	Engineer, Jedi, General, Pilot

_55 ABY_

* * *

His day starts when Beebee-Ate rolls into the room and screamed at him to get up.

_Damn, I'm getting too old for this,_ Poe Dameron thinks briefly as he sits up and sighs. He looked out his small window and guessed he still had an hour or so until sunrise. "Beebee," he called for his small droid, "what time is it?" The droid replied that it was a quarter till 0500. He still had forty-five minutes before his meeting but he better get into the 'fresher soon because he stinks. 

Poe scoffed. "You can't smell, who are you getting that from?" Beebee whirled, reminding him of his busy schedule, and rolled out of the room. The former pilot shook his head and finally got out of bed. 

A lot of things had changed since the end of the war. Poe could usually count on sleeping for at least five hours a night. He wasn't living every day like it was the last. For the first time, in a long time, Poe felt he had a future. 

He stepped out of the shower and looked at his reflection. His body hadn't changed much in the past twenty years. Sure, he had more scars, but he still had the same amount of muscle and tone as he had during the war. His face was another story: his hair was more gray than brown now, the bags under his eyes would never fade. The most dramatic difference had to be the beard he'd grown, the result of a bet lost to Jannah. His husband liked it too much for him to completely shave it off, but he kept it well maintained. 

Poe sighed and shook his head. He never dreamt he'd be General of the Resistance. He's had the title for twenty years now and still doesn't feel qualified. He will never understand how General Organa was able to do it. He wishes he had more time with her. 

He shook his head again and finished getting ready. The Senator of Naboo hates to be kept waiting. 

Very few people are moving around the base at 0515. Poe likes to take the time to inspect the ships in the hangar. His X-Wing, though flown less often than the others, is still in top shape. It could probably use a paint job, but it isn't at the top of his priority list. The other X-Wings are looked after by their pilots. Gold Squadron is scheduled to come back in soon. Blue Squadron is completing their safety checks. He walked past, exchanging greetings with the squad before continuing to his destination. 

He kicked the toolbox wheeled over to the Millennium Falcon's station. Only two people would be crazy enough to wake up _this_ early to work on this piece of junk. _I have a bad feeling about this,_ Poe thought. "Pava! Tico!" He called.

Rosa rolled out from under the ship. She was covered in grease and oil. "General Dameron," Rose addressed him as if it were midday. 

"Why are you two working on this hunk of junk?" Poe asked, "It's way past retirement." 

Rose stood and took the rag off the workbench Poe was standing next to. "Rey asked that it be working by the time she got back and Jess can't say no to her." 

Another rag came flying towards Rose's face. "You're no better, Tico!" Jessika ran down the ramp and grabbed the towel from Rose's shoulder. She wiped her face and hands before turning to the General. "Dameron, you flew this ship for years. Any suggestions on how to fix it?" 

Poe sighed and observed the Falcon. He thought for a moment and ignored Pava's comment to stop stroking his beard. "Usually it was the compressor, but I thought Rey fixed that a while ago. I'd check the engine, then the fuel pump. Near the end of our runs the engine wasn't looking so hot." 

Jess saluted and smiled brightly. "Thanks Poe, you're a lifesaver." 

"So you won't mind taking an inexperienced pilot out later?" 

Jess's relieved face turned sour. "How inexperienced?" 

"Extremely. Thanks, Jess!" 

"There's only one person I'd do this for, Dameron!" Jess yelled as Poe walked away. 

BB-8 was very unhappy when he finally arrived at the landing bay. "Beebee, I'm only three minutes late! Don't get your wires in a twist," He laughed and tried to smooth his uniform out before walking out to the senator's ship. "Senator Naberrie, I'm sorry to keep you waiting." Poe offered his hand to the elder leader. 

"General Dameron," she took his hand and returned his smile, "Don't worry, we weren't kept long. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today." 

Without the impending threat of the First Order, Poe’s role has been much less… ~~active~~ dangerous. Since the end of the war, the Resistance has worked to restore the galaxy to what it was before Palpatine’s reign. Poe’s duties mostly lie in leading the relief efforts and maintaining the military’s excellence (after two generations of tyranny, there was no way Poe was allowing anyone to be caught off guard by another attack. Empire and First Order sympathizers were still out there. If anyone got the idea to ‘finish what Palpatine started’, Poe and the rest of the Resistance were going to be _ready.’_ ) He met with several leaders from different planets to discuss their contributions and/or needs. He met with different engineers and inventors to discuss upgrades on equipment. He made sure to know about all events happening within the galaxy, both suspicious and harmless.

Poe traded his wings for status reports, debriefings for diplomacy meetings, his title of Commander for his title of General. He hoped his mother and General Organa are proud of him.

After his meeting with Senator Naberrie, Poe walked to the maintenance deck for his next appointment. At the sight of the general, the two engineers straightened their backs and saluted. “General Dameron,” the elder engineer, Auviri, stated.

Poe saluted back and smiled. “Auviri, Damrus.” He addressed them both. “I hear you have good news for me.”

Auviri, a Zabrak Poe has known since birth, smiled and presented a small device. “After four long years, we finally did it, General. We created the smallest in-ear translator.”

Damrus continued, “This device, when activated, can translate an array of languages almost instantaneously. You put it into your ear, and you’ll hear any language translated into one you can understand.”

Auviri offered the device to Poe. “If you want to try it out, we have some test phrases saved on Damrus’s datapad.”

“What languages can it translate right now?” Poe asked while putting the device in his ear.

“The languages that have passed Beta testing are Droidspeak, Shyriiwook and Zabraki. With permission, we would like to travel to Endor to perfect Ewokese and Teek.” Auviri replied.

Poe nodded. “Alright, let’s test this out.”

Damrus jumped and grabbed his datapad. “Alright, all the phrases are different. Repeat the phrase once the recording is done.”

The first language was Wookiespeak. Poe heard the recording in his right ear, the other translated the phrase at an impressive rate. “What do you want me to say,” Poe repeated. “Did you get that from Chewbacca?”

Damrus shrugged. “He didn’t really get why we needed him to speak. Alright, round two.” He pressed a button on his datapad.

Poe rolled his eyes. “That’s Beebee. He said, ‘go bother someone else’.” Damrus nodded and played the third recording. Zabraki was one only language out of the three Poe didn’t know. He heard the original recording in one ear, the other clearly said “This is a test of the translating device,” in the other. 

“I’m impressed,” Poe complemented the two engineers before handing back the device. “I think you’ve got something great in the works. I would take this to Babu Frik and show him what you’ve got; he may have suggestions on how to fix the static and make the voice louder.”

The two engineers beamed at the General. “We’ll definitely do that. Thank you, General Dameron.” Auviri responded.

Poe nodded to her. He started to walk away before turning quickly and snapping at the younger engineer. “Damrus, what time do you have to be at the landing bay?”

The young man groaned and threw his head back. “Really?” He exclaimed.

“Yes, _really._ What time?”

Annoyed brown eyes turned and glared at Poe. “I have to be there by fourteen-hundred hours.” 

“What time is it now?”

“Eleven-hundred hours.”

“Where will you be in five hours?”

_“Dad,”_ Damrus groaned, “I’ve only forgotten once! I promise I will be at the landing bay at 1400.”

Poe nodded and smiled. “That’s my boy,” he said. He didn’t turn around as Auviri scolded the young man for talking to the _general_ like that.

Damrus was a baby when the war ended. Finn found him while on a recon mission with Jannah. They were working to find all the children hidden by the First Order. When they came back from their mission, Finn held the child and explained to Poe he couldn’t part with him. “I feel it in the Force,” Finn explained, as if Poe would protest keeping the child. Damrus was now almost twenty years old. Poe wondered where the time went. 

Poe left the maintenance deck for the canteen. He grabbed two lunches and continued to the classrooms used to tutor the kids living on the base. He knocked on one and entered when given permission.

See-Threepio waved. “Master Dameron, good to see you.”

His student looked to the door. She smiled and bolted out of her chair. “Papa!” she shouted as she ran over and grabbed Poe’s legs.

“Hey, careful, I have lunch!” Poe replied. Annihea stepped back and allowed her father to sit before hugging him again.

Annihea was Poe’s youngest child. She was the only one of his children to not be Force sensitive. She didn’t seem to mind - she preferred flying and learning about space.

“She’s a lot like you,” Finn once remarked.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Poe half-joked.

Poe has lunch with his youngest every day he can. Usually Damrus tries to join them, but he’s very bad about keeping time. Once he starts an engineering project, it’s difficult for him to pull away. Poe suspected that Damrus was trying to complete everything he could before 1400.

After they ate lunch and re-tied her hair (it was getting too long, Poe thought, but Finn refused to let anyone cut it), Poe took Annihea to the landing bay. She looked around and pointed out every ship she knew. The ones she didn’t know she’d ask Poe about. She tugged on his arm and pulled him over to Black Squadron’s corner. “Can we go out, Papa?” She asked. 

Poe looked down at her. It took a lot of time, but Poe has finally mastered how to say no to her bright blue puppy dog eyes. “I can’t today, darling, but I know someone else who can.”

Annihea pouted for a moment before looking back at the ships. “Auntie Jeeees!” She screamed before running to the other pilot.

“Hey, little womp rat!” Jess caught her and picked her up. “Are you patrolling with me today?” Annihea nodded. “Great. You’re the only person I’d do this for, kiddo.” Jess turned back to Poe. “We’ll be back by around 1400.”

“You know Rey and-”

Jess’s stare cut Poe off. “Trust me, I _know_ when Rey is coming back. We’ll be back as soon as Black Squadron’s shift is over.”

Poe smiled, “Good luck, Commander Pava.” He tucked a piece of hair behind Annihea’s ear. “Keep an eye on her, will ya?” he asked his youngest.

“Yes sir, General Dameron!” She saluted.

Right as the X-wing took off, Beebee came to complain he was late _again._ Poe huffed and followed the droid to the conference rooms.

Finding the balance between duty and family was difficult at first. Poe will always admit he could not have done it without Finn. In every aspect, Finn is his partner. He’s the first person to tell Poe he’s wrong. He’s the only one Poe trusts to always have his back. They’ve seen each other at both their best and their worst. Poe loves Finn, his co-general, his best friend, his _husband,_ with everything he has. Finn makes him constantly strive to be a better man.

They’ve both changed a lot since the war ended. Finn spent a lot of time with the other ex-Stormtroopers, finally feeling like there was a group that could empathize with him. He started his Jedi training and was recently promoted to the rank of Master. (Everyone seemed _ecstatic_ when Finn received his new title- no more would there be any confusing conversations concerning _which_ General Dameron was in question. Poe was General Dameron, Finn was Master Dameron. It worked out better for everyone.) Some things, however, haven’t changed. Finn is still just as handsome as he was twenty years ago. He still makes Poe’s heart stop with a single glance.

He still dominates Poe’s thoughts, even when he should be paying attention. Poe left his meeting with fragmented information about Jakku and its status. He left right at 1400 with the promise of a briefing sent soon. 

Poe moved down the hallway quickly, almost bumping into someone leaning against the wall. “Jannah!” Poe exclaimed, “How are you doing?”

Jannah looked up from her datapad. “General Dameron, good to see you. Everything is looking good here, Sir, nothing to report.”

Poe nodded and kept walking down the hallway. “Rose, how’s the Falcon looking?” he asked as the mechanic approached.

Rose shifted the files she was holding to her right hip. “It was the engine; good call General.”

They high fived as Poe kept walking. “Zorii, did the engineers come down to your station?” He yelled down the hallway.

“They’re talking to Babu now,” she shouted back. “Don’t know how your son became so smart, Dameron. It definitely wasn’t your doing.”

“I can’t argue with facts,” he stopped in front of her and sighed. “Can I kiss you?” He asked, deadpan.

Zorii slapped his cheek lightly, not wanting to leave a mark. “Get lost. Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Heading there now,” He winked and continued to the landing bay.

The landing bay was crowded when Poe arrived. Young Jedis ran around and greeted their families. _Kriff,_ Poe thought, _I’ll never find them in this._

“Poe!” Someone called out. Poe looked over and saw Rey beaming at him.

“Rey! Good to see you,” he hugged his friend. “How was everything?”

“Finn and I definitely had our work cut out for us,” Rey laughed. “We made a lot of progress. I think the kids learned a lot.”

Poe smiled. “You two are a good team.” He punched the other on the arm.

The Jedi nodded in agreement. “He missed you, though. He was pretty restless near the end.”

“Rose and Jess were the same way. They were trying to fix the Falcon earlier.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I’ve been telling them to give it up; that ship belongs in a museum at this point. They’re too stubborn to listen.”

Poe shrugged. “We’re all like that. Jess will be back soon, you can yell at her about it then.”

Rey smiled. “Good to hear. I’ve gotta go find Rose, but,” she gave him a mock salute, “I’ll see you around, General Dameron.”

“Master Skywalker,” Poe gave her one last hug and looked the other way in hopes of seeing the familiar leather jacket. He turned around and-

Ah.

Beautiful brown eyes met his. Poe couldn’t help his wide grin. He pointed to the other man and ran into his embrace. He buried his face into the other’s neck, slung one arm around his back and used the other hand to hold his neck. Finn’s arms wrapped around his torso.

They were only separated for three months, but three months could feel like a _lifetime._ After a long time, Poe finally had Finn back in his arms. He had no plans on letting the Jedi go any time soon.

They pulled away slowly. “General Dameron,” Finn said softly.

Poe chuckled and rested his forehead against Finn’s. “Master Dameron,” he replied. “I thought you had a meeting.”

“It let out early, I couldn’t wait to see you.”

Damrus ran over as Poe and Finn separated. “Dad!”

“Papa!” Someone shouted behind Poe. He turned around as his second eldest child ran from the ship.

“Shara!” He hugged his daughter. “You look more beautiful every time I see you.” She hadn’t changed much in the past couple months, Poe thought, but she looked happier. Poe always thought her destiny was to be a Jedi, like her father before her. Shara was to be a Jedi, Damrus an engineer, Annihea a pilot, and-

“You didn’t forget about me, did you?”

Poe turned and smiled at his second-youngest child. “Leia,” he said, “you know I could never.” She blushed slightly and hugged her father.

Out of his children, Poe suspects Leia will be the one to take his place someday. With one glare, she can demand everyone’s attention. She is one of the best analysts Poe has ever worked with. Leia, like the woman she was named after, will be a general one day.

Poe looked around the base once again. Rey was holding Rose and smiling. Damrus and Leia distanced themselves to talk about Leia’s new lightsaber. Shara sat and listened as BB-8 told her what took place in her absence.

Poe reached for Finn’s hand. “Jess and Anni should be in soon. Wanna go wait for them in the canteen?”

Finn squeezed his hand and gave him a look of adoration. “I would love that, I’m so hungry.” 

Poe called for his children and tugged on Finn’s hand again.

“Last one to the canteen stinks like Papa!” Shara called, already running from her siblings.

Poe stopped and pointed at her. “Beebee got it from _you?”_ He shouted but did not get a response.

Finn pulled him closer and kissed his cheek. “She’s just kidding, dear.” Poe shook his head as he followed his children, hand in hand with his husband.

He'd talk to her about it tomorrow. 

**Author's Note:**

> Heterosexuals? In MY Star Wars? So uncivilized.


End file.
